Although we were anticipating rain for much of the day, it was fine and dry at the outset and we made a prompt, if not (by our standards) an early start.
By the time we left the mooring, two others had already gone and so, looking back, there was now only the boat that was there when we arrived. It is a really good mooring that can accommodate perhaps 7 or 8 boats.
Alongside a bridge, this house has a great garden - parts are formal such as the rockery by tucked in at the far end is a delightful sitting area which must be tempting on warm days!
Shortly before Dutton Stop Lock, the old dry dock is still going strong with a boat in for, we presume, a routine blacking.
As the name implies, Dutton Stop Lock does not have a significant rise or fall. It also has strange dimensions - the top gate is about right for a narrow boat but the chamber and bottom gates can accommodate up to about 9ft beam.
This shows the difference at the top gate when the bottom ones are open. The purpose of the lock would have been to control the flow of water between the two canals owned by different companies. Connecting canals were, in the commercial days, always bickering over the ownership of water which, of course, was - and still is - a precious resource, vital to the ability to navigate.
Entry into Preston Brook Tunnel for north bound boats is just the ten minutes after the hour. We had made good time to here so had to tie up and wait awhile. At the due time we set off, the passage time is around 15 minutes and the canal is almost straight, just a little wobble at the northern end.
Although the tunnel seems to be the responsibility of Canal and River Trust, it seems that the official junction with the Bridgewater is a few metres inside the northern end! Certainly as soon as a boat emerges it needs to be licenced for the Bridgewater, Fortunately there is a long standing arrangement for boats with either licence to access the other waters - in the case of Bridgewater boats, as far as Barbridge Junction. After a brief attempt a few years ago to break this agreement, we now only need to register the passage on the CaRT web site - we now have 7 days to transit back to CaRT waters in Manchester.
At Waters Meeting we turned onto the Runcorn Branch just for a very short distance to make use of the water and elsan facilities alongside Preston Brook Marina.
Between the marina before and the junction there is a short arm with some surviving examples of canal warehouse architecture.
We only had to reverse about 200 m before we could turn at the marina entrance - in fact the canal is sufficiently wide that we hardly had to put our bow into the entrance splay.
Just after we rejoined the main Bridgewater Canal we had a good, if a bit distant, view of Norton Water Tower that we mentioned when describing the Vyrnwy Pipeline crossing of the Weaver at Devil's Garden. See here for a little more history, but we have yet to track any further detail of the actual workings.
Just after Daresbury Science Park a large housing development is underway, seemingly called Daresbury Garden Village. Interesting to note that one section is being provided with integral solar panels - although the 'affordable' houses on the left (the ones with little tents over the entrance doors!) do not have them. Shame!
Just after this the rain which had been menacing us for a while finally arrived and the rest of the day was generally wet, quite heavy at times. We were disappointed at Moore where, although the village shop has now re-opened after a makeover, little more than the Post Office part was yet functional. The shop shelves were very bare.
We stopped at Stockton Heath for lunch and afterwards walked the short distance to the town shops for some supplies. The local butcher did us well but the two supermarkets were a bit limited.
Back at the boat we set off once more but only lasted at 40 minutes before we gave in and tied up in a quiet spot for the night as rain gradually gained in intensity. We hope for better tomorrow . . .
10.9 Miles - 1 Lock
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